boscopup Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Yes, the First Grade Diary is quite inexpensive. You may be on to a good deal of her methodology already (I don't know). I just know this well-intended Dad felt like he was in such a quandary over "how" to introduce math in a way that would both meet my goals for a deeper (Liping Ma style) math education, and was enjoyable for my child and me. Reading the diary got my creative juices flowing. That's pretty much what I need. I look at the orange and red books and the lab annotations book and go :001_huh:, just having no clue where to start! I know to do the stairs thing, and that's about it. :lol: I've downloaded that little pre-Miquon activity booklet, and we'll run through that while we wait for the FGD. Hopefully the FGD will help me get my creative juices going too. We'll see how this all goes. Today while doing SM EM K, the directions were to circle the two objects that were the same height. He pointed them out, then said "I'll just circle all of them." :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 That's pretty much what I need. I look at the orange and red books and the lab annotations book and go :001_huh:, just having no clue where to start! I know to do the stairs thing, and that's about it. :lol: I've downloaded that little pre-Miquon activity booklet, and we'll run through that while we wait for the FGD. Hopefully the FGD will help me get my creative juices going too. We'll see how this all goes. Today while doing SM EM K, the directions were to circle the two objects that were the same height. He pointed them out, then said "I'll just circle all of them." :lol: You might get Notes to Teachers while you are at it. It is a scant little booklet, same price as FGD if memory serves (and not as good a value) but it does have useful ideas on getting started. They should have added NtT as a foreword to the Lab Annotations instead of making a separate booklet. Oh well. Miquon is really funny. On first glance it can look so strange and foreign that it can cause panic (or at least a sense of incomprehension). I experienced both. But upon reading the Diary and Notes to Teachers something "clicks" and suddenly it seems like the most natural and intuitive way to teach math. It is really a strange phenomenon. I think a big part of it is we adults need to re-discover the childlike parts of our minds, and that can take a little positive encouragement. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rbsmrter Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I have to agree that the C Rods have been a great way for my daughter to discover on her own. She's only three but she has expressed a great interest in doing math. We've finished up the Singapore Earlybird series, but I was hesitant to start Grade 1 with her in the fall. It just felt too soon. In preparation for Miquon I've given her a set of C Rods to play with. I did tell her the value of each rod and within two days she knew them all. She never even referred to their colors. If I say, "show me ten" she never says anything about it being the "orange rod." And just the other day she got all excited and told me that there were lots of ways to make ten. I looked down and realized she had come up with at least six different ways to make ten (without me saying a word to her). It has really changed the way I approach math with her. Here I was worried that it was too soon to approach number bonds with her and questioning my strategy of how to introduce and she's done all the work for me! While I realize she's still young, I love being able to give her the independence to discover concepts on her own. I haven't used a formal curriculum with the rods at all, yet she's on her way to learning a range of concepts. I guess I just have a hard time seeing anything wrong with that! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I have to agree that the C Rods have been a great way for my daughter to discover on her own. She's only three but she has expressed a great interest in doing math. We've finished up the Singapore Earlybird series, but I was hesitant to start Grade 1 with her in the fall. It just felt too soon. In preparation for Miquon I've given her a set of C Rods to play with. I did tell her the value of each rod and within two days she knew them all. She never even referred to their colors. If I say, "show me ten" she never says anything about it being the "orange rod." And just the other day she got all excited and told me that there were lots of ways to make ten. I looked down and realized she had come up with at least six different ways to make ten (without me saying a word to her). It has really changed the way I approach math with her. Here I was worried that it was too soon to approach number bonds with her and questioning my strategy of how to introduce and she's done all the work for me! While I realize she's still young, I love being able to give her the independence to discover concepts on her own. I haven't used a formal curriculum with the rods at all, yet she's on her way to learning a range of concepts. I guess I just have a hard time seeing anything wrong with that! :001_smile: Thank you for sharing :001_smile: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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